giovedì 10 febbraio 2011

Iran intensifies measures to combat drugs

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.10 / Trend T. Jafarov /

Iran spends large amounts of money on intensifying measures to combat drugs, Border Guard Commander, General Hussein Zulfugari told journalists today."A great deal of funding is required to combat drugs on our lengthy borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan," Zulfugari said. "Iran invests these funds, and its anti-drug activities are also of a benefit to neighboring countries and Europe,"According to him, if the country did not fund activities to combat drugs, then, given Iran's geographical position, the volume of narcotics trade would increase several times."But the international community and Western countries don't support Iran in this difficult matter," Zulfugari said.According to him, if Iran does not conduct an active fight against drugs, then this would lead to tragic consequences for neighboring countries."In most countries, the police cannot reveal even 10 percent of the incoming drugs, while in Iran 35 percent of the imported drugs are revealed and seized," Zulfugari said.He added that Iran is making every possible effort to strengthen measures to combat drug trafficking in the country."The amount of seized drugs is increasing every year. During the first 10 months of this year (from March to December), by strengthening border controls, the amount of imported drugs decreased considerably," Zulfugari said.In general, during this period, over 400 tons of drugs were seized at the borders and in the country, and many armed smugglers were rendered harmless and arrested, he said."Iran is showing selflessness in combating drugs," Zulfugari said. "Over the past few years, in clashes with drug traffickers, over 4,000 Iranian police officers were killed and over 12,000 were injured."He added that in combating drugs one cannot build a wall and prevent drug trafficking because drug traffickers use different ways to achieve their goals."We're waging a real war against drug trafficking at our borders," Zulfugari said. "We are ready to demonstrate this to anyone who wants to be sure."A working meeting of the heads of the border services of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Russia was held in Baku on Wednesday.During the meeting, the heads of the border services discussed the current situation in the Caspian Sea, as well as the prospects of cooperation between their border structures.